Case for dissecting kit



April 30, 1968 5. D. GULOTTA CASE FOR DISSECTING KIT 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 18, 1966 INVENTOR 666,410 a 60107724 ATTORNEYS April 1968 G D. GULOTTA 3,380,573

CASE FOR DISSECTING KIT Filed July 18, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 65641.9 2 6010774 ATTORNEYS April 30, 1968 G. D. GULOTTA 3,380,573

CASE FOR DISSECTING KIT Filed July 18, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEYS April 30, 1968 G. D. GULOTTA 3,380,573

CASE FOR DISSECTING Kl'l' Filed July 18. 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 /u 2/ i I 3/ x {a y x .3 4 3 1/ l I I I 20 I- 1 x 36 36 K:\

f F/6.1'1 Z4 l INVENTOR 61-76410 0. 60107724 BY fiW QLYM ATTORNEYS nited States atent York Filed July 18, 1966, Ser. No. 568,697 7 Claims. (Cl. 20616) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLQSURE A dissecting kit case comprised basically of only three main parts for containing dissecting instruments in a manner which facilitates their removal for quick and efiicient use. The three main parts include an outer container, an instrument holder which may be held by the outer container in a longitudinal position or in an upright position so that the contained instruments extend upwardly therefrom, and an auxiliary stand. The auxiliary stand and the instrument holder are removable from the outer container, so that the holder may stand upright, outside of and divorced from the outer case, and if desired may be additionally supported in such a position by the auxiliary stand. The case is economically constructed of a plastic material and may be easily disassembled for cleaning purposes.

This invention relates to a case for use in encasing dissecting instruments or other similar articles in a manner which facilitates their removal from the case when they are needed. A case is provided which may be economically produced, may be efiiciently used, will occupy a minimum amount of space, and may be easily cleaned.

Several problems occur with existing instrument set cases designed for a particular purpose, such as for a dissecting kit. When the instrument case is placed on a support it is often difiicult to quickly and efliciently grasp and remove a required instrument. In addition, a case having horizontally disposed compartments for instruments is difficult to clean. There are many inaccessible corners and crevices that are hard to reach. This problem is increased by the absence of drainage means to drain any fluids from the case that may have collected when the instruments were returned after use.

Another problem that exists when the instruments are stored within a case designed to be horizontally disposed during use, is the surface area required for the case on the table or selected support. When the user has to work in a confined surface area, often an excessive amount of space is occupied by the instrument case, particularly when the case is open and ready for use. A portion of this surface could be used to better advantage, for instance, for containing the subject matter on which the instruments are to be used.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a dissecting kit case which will alleviate the above-mentioned problems, and which includes: an outer container with an internally located removable instrument holder; an outer container of this type normally horizontally disposed with means to hold an enclosed instrument holder in an upright position, thereby facilitating grasping and removal of the contained instruments; an instrument holder with removable partition means which define compartments for storing the instruments; an instrument holder with means thereon to allow it to stand in a vertical position away from the outer container with added stability; and an arrangement of parts which are washable, durable, unbreakable, nonrustable with a high chemical resistance which may be easily cleaned and which provide for adequate drainage of liquid.

With these and other objects in mind, reference is made to the attached drawings embodying this invention, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dissecting kit case embodying this invention with the lid of the outer container in a closed position;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dissecting kit case with the lid open and the enclosed instrument holder in a horizontal position and several contained instruments shown in phantom;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the dissecting kit case embodying this invention with the lid open and the instrument holder shown in phantom supported in a vertical position;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the instrument holder shown in an upright position, supported by an auxiliary stand;

FIG. 4a is a perspective view of the instrument holder shown in an upright position, supported by the auxiliary stand, in an alternate position, and with several of the contained instruments shown in phantom;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the instrument holder;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the partition portion of the instrument holder;

FIG. 7 is a sectional elevation view of the dissecting case taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a sectional end elevation view thereof, taken along the plane of line 8-3 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a sectional end elevation view thereof, taken along the plane of line 9-9 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary sectional top view thereof showing the instrument holder held in an upright fixed position within the outer container;

FIG. 11 is a sectional end elevation view of the instrument holder in an upright position and showing the liquid drainage means.

In the drawings, referring to FIG. 2, a dissecting kit case embodying the invention is comprised mainly of three parts: an outer container 20; an instrument holder 30; and an auxiliary stand 40. Both the instrument holder 30 and auxiliary stand 4d are normally contained within base 21 of outer container 20 and are adapted to be encased within outer container 20 when the integrally hinged lid 22 is closed and coupled with base 21. This is the usual storage position of the case with the holder 30 in a horizontal position and the outer container 20 is preferably closed.

All of the parts of the dissecting kit case may be constructed of any one of a number of materials both natural and synthetic such as polypropylene, which may be Washed, is non-breakable, nonrustable and has a high chemical resistance. Parts constructed of this particular material are also durable and easily cleaned.

Movement of the holder 3% in the container 2% is held at an absolute minimum. To keep holder 34 from tipping While it is in an horizontal position within outer container 20, there are two opposed shoulders 50, extending inwardly from the sides of outer container 20. In this connection the top end portion of holder 30 rests on shoulders 50. To keep holder 30 and its contained instruments from sliding in a longitudinal position, there is a spacer 51 dividing the outer container 2% into two separate compartments. The larger compartment 23 houses the holder 30 and its instruments and maintains them in a fixed position and the smaller compartment 24 is used to house miscellaneous articles, such as auxiliary stand 44 There is an opening 52 in spacer 51 which allows unusually long instruments or marking implements such as pencils in holder 30 to extend into compartment 24.

In FIG. 3, it can be seen how holder 30 may be held in a vertical upright position within outer container 20 when it is desired to use the contained instruments. One

wider side of holder 3 is supported by spacer S1. The other wide side of holder 30 is supported by two opposed stops 53, each extending inwardly from opposite sides of outer container 20. Gne narrower side of holder St) is supported by a rib 54 extending inwardly from one side of outer container 20, thereby forcing the other narrow side of holder 30 tightly against the side of outer container 2t). Holder 30 is, therefore, fixedly supported in a vertical position and the contained instruments may be easily removed and replaced from the top of holder 3%.

Turning to the holder 39, and looking particularly at FIG. 5, it will be observed that holder 30 is comprised of basically two parts, a receptacle porton 31 and a partition portion 32. The two parts may be force-fitted together and disassociated for cleaning purposes. Partition '52 has perpendicular extending members 33 extending from its surface so that when it is placed within the hollow receptacle 31 these members 33 will form chambers for the individual instruments. There are also two inwardly extending ribs 38 in the receptacle to aid in defining the chambers. To increase the rigidity of partition 32 there is a beveled edge 34 on the portion of its outer vertical sides which extends above receptacle 31. FIG. 4a shows the partition in position within receptacle 31 and with several contained instruments shown in phantom. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 each depict opposite sides of partition 32; and it can be seen that the chambers defined by memb rs 33 vary in size, thereby providing different sized chambers to accommodate different sized instruments.

In a number of instances, it may be desired or necessary to remove holder 30 from the container 29 and use it at a remote location. Under these circumstances, the removal of holder 30 from outer container reduces the amount of the work area required for the instrument holder. This provides a greater amount of area for the operator to use for other purposes. This is particularly valuable when the operator is working in a confined area.

Holder may stand in an upright position without the aid of container 20 as seen in FIG. 5 and FIG. ll. Legs 35 extending from the base of holder 30 cooperates in forming a stable support. In order to increase the stability of holder 30, an auxiliary stand it? is employed as seen in FIG. 4. Stand has a flat base 41, the edge 49 of which rests on a horizontal surface, and has two vertically extending members 42. Members 42 are spaced so as to provide support for holder 30 when one of the narrow upstanding sides of holder 30 is placed between them. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4a, stand 40 may be placed with its base resting on a horizontal surface and its members 42 will then provide support for maintainr ing holder 30 in an upright position when it is placed between them.

Adjacent to the base of holder 30 there are four drainage slots 36. Two of the slots 36 are in each longer side of holder 30. Slots 36 form a drainage passage for any liquid during cleaning or that may collect in the holder from the instruments when they are replaced in their respective chambers after use, thereby adding to the cleaning features of the case.

Thus, the present invention provides a low cost, cOrnpact dissecting kit case comprised basically of only three main parts for containing dissecting instruments or other similar articles in a manner which facilitates their removal for quick use. The case is easy to clean, economic to produce, eificient to use and may be used in a manner which will occupy a minimum amount of work space.

Thus, the above-mentioned objects of the invention, among others, are achieved. The range and scope of the invention are defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A plastic dissecting kit case for containing dissecting instruments comprised of an outer container having a compartment portion with a large and a small compartment t erein, said outer container having an integral Cal hinged lid portion coupled with said compartment portion, means in said large compartment to support an instrument holder in a longitudinal position within said outer container thereby enclosing said holder within said outer container, the interior of the container having longitudinally extending surfaces and having transversely extending surfaces interposed therebetween and including lug means, said surfaces including said lug means combining to support said holder in an upright position within said outer container and extending therefrom, said instrument holder being rectangular and open on one short side when the instrument holder in is an upright position, means on said instrument holder defining spaced chambers within said holder to receive and contain instruments including transverse substantially parallel members which extend substantially perpendicular to the longest sides of said rectangular instrument holder, said instruments in said chambers extending from said open end and said holder having means thereon to enable said holder to stand upright outside of said outer container.

2. The invention in accordance with claim 1 wherein there is a stand having means to mount said holder mounted on the closed end of said holder thereby giving additional support to said holder in an upright position when said holder is not Within said outer container, and the means on said stand to mount said holder includes two upstanding panels extending from its horizontal base portion, said panels being approximately parallel and spaced slightly wider than the smallest width of said holder in an upright position, thereby providing additional supporting means for said upright holder when it is coupled thereto.

3. The invention in accordance with claim 1 wherein said large and small compartments are defined by a spacer, said spacer retaining the instruments within said holder and said spacer having an opening therein whereby long instruments extending from said holder may extend into said small compartment when said holder is in a longitudinal position.

4. The invention in accordance with claim 1 wherein said members defining said chambers within said holder are removable from said container and the sides of said holder have a plurality of slots adjacent to the closed end thereof facilitating the cleaning of said holder.

5. The invention in accordance with claim 1 wherein said extension has a beveled outer rim thereby adding additional strength and rigidity to said extension and said holder has at least two legs extending from its closed end to stabilize said holder when it is not standing upright and unsupported.

6. The invention in accordance with claim 1 wherein said means in said large compartment to support said holder in a longitudinal position is a pair of opposed shoulders each extending from one of the longest sides of said compartment whereby said extension of said holder rests on said shoulders thereby preventing said holder from tipping.

7. The invention in accordance with claim 1 wherein the material used for said dissecting kit case is polypropylene.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 816,959 4/1906 Briganti 206- 17 1,350,237 8/1920 Porter 206-16 1,888,927 11/1932 Lang 2061 2,542,724 2/1951 Stettner 206-16 2,685,363 8/1954 Falk et al. 206l6 2,714,443 8/1955 Kuvin 220 22 2,867,928 1/1959 Angell 206-1 3,322,310 5/1967 Higgs 206-16 WILLIAM T. DIXSON, 1a., Primary Examiner. 

